Cat's Cradle
by What a Rubber Chicken
Summary: After the events of Evillustrator, Marinette gets a surprise visit. Investigating further leads to a pleasant surprise and Marinette discovering a whole new aspect to her partner.


_When going through the extensive list of Marichat fics, I noticed we have a common trend of just saying 'Cat Noir started visiting Marinette after Evillustrator,' and leaving it at that. Here's my interpretation on how those interactions could've gone._

* * *

**Cat's Cradle**

"_You can thank me later."_

It had seemed like such a little thing. And at the time, she'd honestly had more on her mind than what Cat Noir could possibly mean (namely, defeating the monster that Nathaniel had turned into). So she was completely caught off guard when a pair of bright green eyes appeared in her window later that night as she was getting ready for bed. Her only warning was Tikki, who suddenly zipped behind her computer.

"Tikki?" she'd called, confused by her kwami's behavior. Then she'd seen the peeping tomcat in her window.

She'd screamed to high heaven.

To his credit, he seemed to realize his mistake quite quickly, and didn't hang around for her bear of a father to come barreling up the stairs at his daughter's cry. She'd spent a few minutes catching her breath and reassuring her father that she'd just seen a stray cat and it had startled her (she didn't say who the stray cat was, she didn't need her partner getting _that_ kind of reputation around Paris, thank you!), before all was calm again, her father told her to get some sleep, and she cautiously made her way up to her balcony to see if the superhero was still there.

He wasn't. Apparently, he _did_ care about saving his tail. Cause _ohhh_, she wanted to rip him a new one for that! She'd gone to bed that night plotting and planning for Ladybug to completely lay into him for stalking girls at night the very next time she saw him. By morning, she'd forgotten about it until Adrien came up to her, asking about her interaction with the superhero. Of course, she wasn't about to let her crush know some other guy had seen her in nothing but her pajamas! So, she'd stuttered and rambled on until he left.

It made her think a bit more about Cat Noir, though. He wasn't really _that_ type of guy, was he? She knew him, at least she _thought_ she knew him better than anyone else, and up until the night before, she'd have sworn up and down that he was completely safe.

Now?

Curious, she'd asked Alya about it. After all, the Ladyblog was the leading authority on all things Ladybug and Cat Noir. If there were reports of the tomcat peeping, surely her best friend would be the first to know!

To her surprise, Alya had responded positively and enthusiastically. She'd said that it was now considered common practice for Cat Noir to visit akuma victims after the incident; making sure they were okay, or recommending local doctors, shrinks, or whatever else they might need to help them. He'd even gotten a couple of them jobs or helped others keep their jobs (many akumas were turned because they'd lost their job) by pulling strings with the higher-ups.

Her partner had even been recorded reiterating their standing policy that the former akumas be considered and treated like victims, not perpetrators. There was a whole section on the blog that Marinette had never even _seen_ before, called Cat's Cradle.

Marinette couldn't help smiling as she read the whole section. She usually saw her job as done once the Miraculous Cure went through and fixed everything. Apparently, her partner had been working in the shadows, pulling strings, and making sure it stayed that way.

And it didn't take much. Alya had said he'd visited for less than five minutes after she'd become Lady Wifi, and that was after she'd begged him for an interview. He'd even given her some extra money to buy a better phone because, as he'd said with a wink, he wanted to see better pictures of Ladybug on the Blog.

Marinette had blushed and quickly changed the subject.

But that night, she left a box of cookies and a thank-you note on her balcony. It was Cat's turn for patrol. They were both gone the next morning.

"Careful, Marinette," Tikki had giggled, smirking at her sideways. "Don't you know you're not supposed to feed strays?"

"There is nothing wrong with thanking my partner for doing a good job," she'd replied defensively. And he'd been going above and beyond, it seemed. Besides, now that he'd been thanked properly (she wasn't quite sure all of this wasn't for some extra-preening opportunities), he should be satisfied and leave her alone, right?

Wrong.

A couple nights later was the incident with Rogercop. And damn, had _that_ taken a long time. All day and into the night before the akuma had finally been purified. So, she'd stayed up late, trying to get at least _some_ of her homework done, when she'd heard a light knock coming from her hatch. She'd whirled towards it in shock.

_Surely not…? He had to be as exhausted as she was! Why wasn't he at home, resting?_

But she couldn't just leave him there with no reply. And she was curious as to what would drive him to feed his kwami and transform again (he'd used his Cataclysm, there was no way he'd held onto the transformation for this long) after everything else that had happened tonight. So, she'd gone up and opened the hatch, to see him smiling sheepishly on her balcony holding a single violet. He held it out to her with a courtly bow.

"Cat Noir?" was all she could say as she took it, totally flummoxed.

"I wanted to apologize for scaring you the other night," he said, rubbing the back of neck sheepishly. "I really _wasn't_ trying to peek in your room, I was trying to see if you were awake—"

"By peeking in my room," she'd interrupted, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. He'd paused, his mouth still open, but unable to contradict her. He seemed to realize this after a moment.

"Yeah, I got nothing," he admitted in defeat. "I'm sorry, and it won't happen again?" he tried hopefully.

"It had better not," she said, crossing her arms. "The last thing Paris needs is for its superhero to be labelled a 'peeping tom.'"

"Oh God, no," he actually whimpered in horror. "I already get enough flack from the press for the leather-looking catsuit."

Marinette giggled. "Well, I guess I can let it go. You did save me from the big, scary, evil akuma, after all." She batted her eyes at him playfully.

"Evillustrator wasn't that big. He was one of the smallest—," Cat argued, turning to her with an eyebrow raised. He scowled. "You're teasing me, aren't you."

Marinette laughed. "Sorry, but you make it easy." He huffed and pouted, looking like an irritable kitten. "Sorry, sorry," she said, her laughter dying off. "I really am grateful for everything. Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

"Actually…," he said, looking speculative. He licked his lips and looked at her eagerly. "Do you have any more of those cookies? They were really good. I mean, I know the bakery's closed right now, but…."

"No, no, it's no problem," Marinette said, turning to go get him some.

"I can pay!" he said quickly, before she could disappear down the hatch completely. She looked at him in surprise, only to see him toss his hair like some sort of shampoo commercial. "I mean, you don't owe me any free cookies or anything for rescuing you," he said, lowering his voice and obviously trying to be seductive. "Being this fabulous just comes with being a superhero."

_Oh, my God_, she thought, cringing. _He's so over the top. And where'd he learn to flirt? An anime?_ It was taking all she had not to break into laughter again.

"Oh, no," she said, taking the higher road and _not_ laughing at her partner. "No superheroes pay here, Cat Noir. Rescuing princesses means you eat for free."

"Oh, really?" he asked, flashing her a dazzling smile. "Better be careful then, princess. I'll eat you out of house and home." She snorted at him, but he shook his head, his smile dropping for a moment. "No, I'm serious. I had to take on the _entire_ police force today. I'm starving." She laughed.

"Well, then, I'd better add a few croissants to the bag then," she said.

"Really?" Now the excited look on his face was real, she was sure. She winked at him.

"I'll see what I can scrounge up. Wait here."

She closed the hatch behind her, still not entirely comfortable with the thought of a strange boy in her room (superhero or not). She was sure she heard a whoop behind her though, and could easily picture him doing a fist pump. She giggled again at his antics and went to go get him his treats. When she came back with a whole box of macaroons, as well as various breads and pastries from the bakery (her father usually got rid of the stuff not sold the previous day anyway, so he'd never miss these), she swore his eyes glowed. He thanked her profusely, and did try to pay her several times, but she insisted.

…she really should've listened to Tikki about feeding strays.


End file.
